Spanish Word of the Day: 'Botellón'

It could be translated as 'pre-drinking' but in some cases, people, often students, will just go to a park or plaza to drink with no intention of going anywhere else afterwards. The word literally means 'big bottle' (and still does in Latin America, where botellón isn't a part of their culture).

via Pocket https://ift.tt/2OL8HQf

10 Words With Roots in Lesser-Known Languages

English has borrowed words from all over the world to make up its lexicon. Our friends at Vocabulary.

via Pocket http://ift.tt/1ql6Ctd

11 Slang Terms You Think Are New But Are In Fact Ancient

But the first recorded use of the word was in 1941. Hipsters have been trying too hard to look cool for more than seven decades. And they really haven’t changed that much: Norman Mailer was writing about “the self-protective irony of the hipster” in 1958.



via Pocket http://ift.tt/1ABGFEn

Google Translate gets smarter with language detection, Word Lens

Star Trek's universal translator is here, and it's on your phone.



via Pocket http://ift.tt/1CiTxSo

40 Incorrectly Used Words That Can Make You Look Dumb

LinkedIn Influencer, Jeff Haden, published this post originally on LinkedIn. While I like to think I know a little about business writing, I still fall into a few word traps. (Not to mention a few cliché traps.)



via Pocket http://ift.tt/1AcCsIG

10 Words With Roots in Lesser-Known Languages

English has borrowed words from all over the world to make up its lexicon. Our friends at Vocabulary.



via Pocket http://ift.tt/1ql6Ctd

The top 10 words invented by writers

I have long been interested in words but most specifically in the question of how a coinage makes it into the larger language, especially at a time when the English language seems to have more than enough words to sustain itself.



via Pocket http://ift.tt/1uItYcy

5 French Phrases That Will Save You Money When Traveling in France

Save by learning these important phrases. Photo: Smilla4 So you're feeling like you've mastered the "bonjours" and "mercis"? Maybe it's time to kick it up a notch. Sometimes in Paris, hand signals don't always work when you are shopping or dining in a café.



via Pocket http://ift.tt/1u6Hn8L

The Two-Way

The growing popularity of electronic cigarettes has now sparked the notice of the estimable Oxford Dictionaries, which has chosen "vape" as the word of the year for 2014. The word can be a noun or a verb; it beat out contenders such as "bae" and "normcore."



via Pocket http://ift.tt/1xgkAxe

Revealed: The word of the year is 'vape'

After much discussion, Oxford Dictionaries have revealed their word of the year: 'vape'. Eminent lexicographer Jonathon Green is unimpressed It’s that time of the year.



via Pocket http://ift.tt/11oIDNK

Please. Don’t ‘Decry’ the ‘Divorcée.’ Or Give Us Your ‘CV.’ The Times Guide to Modern Usage

We investigate subjects here. We do not “probe” them. And no, none of the bodies here are buried in “caskets”; The New York Times Manual of Style prefers the term “coffin.”



via Pocket http://ift.tt/1u1Z1Q1

Baltimore Marathon Organizers Advise Spectators of Appropriate, Inappropriate Cheers

If you’ve ever found yourself silently cursing a spectator for telling you you’re “almost there!” when you still have three miles left in your marathon, Saturday’s Baltimore Marathon may be the race for you.



via Pocket http://ift.tt/11vBkoa